NZ Deputy PM Compares Fluoridation Mandates to Soviet Rule

A glass of tap water in Washington on Nov. 25, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

New Zealand’s outgoing Director-General of Health Dr. Diana Sarfati—who leaves her post on Feb. 21—has ordered Whangārei District Council to add fluoride to the drinking water it supplies to its 80,000 residents, a decision that Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is strongly opposed to.

Parliament considered the issue of fluoridation in 2021, and passed laws giving the director-general of health the power to direct local authorities to add the chemical to their water supplies.

The Ministry of Health states that “over 60 years of international and New Zealand research finds water fluoridation is both a safe and effective way to reduce tooth decay” and cites the World Health Organisation and other health and scientific experts as endorsing the policy.

But Peters described Sarfati’s order as a “despotic Soviet-era disgrace.” His party, NZ First, has introduced a private members bill which would return the decision on fluoride to councils by requiring them to hold a binding referendum on the issue.

“Important public health measures such as this should be decided with transparency, debate, and local voices, not by overreaching Wellington-based bureaucrats,” Peters said. “The only people who would oppose this Bill are those who oppose democracy.”

Meanwhile, Whangārei District Council, located near the north of North Island, is standing firm against the order.

This week, they reaffirmed a decision made on Nov. 28 to refuse fluoridation despite Sarfati warning them in a letter that it was an offence under the Health Act for a local authority to contravene a direction. She also mentioned that they could face “potentially heavy penalties upon any conviction by a court.”

Lawyers have warned councillors they risk imprisonment if they don’t meet the March 28 fluoridation deadline.

Whāngarei Mayor Vince Cocurullo who, along with the city's councillors, could face prison if they don't fluoridate their town's water. Courtesy of Whāngarei District Council

Whangārei Mayor Vince Cocurullo has publicly said he would go to prison, painting the dispute as not about health but about the principle of democratic freedom.

Thirteen other councils have also been ordered to fluoridate, but so far none have said they intend to defy the instruction.

Peters described the threat of imprisonment as “chilling.”

“This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country,” he said.

“Individual democratically elected councillors are not only being threatened with huge fines, they are now being threatened with imprisonment—all for disagreeing with a foolish law change and forcing Wellington-based bureaucrats to act.”